Microsoft Office Files Error - Unable to Open

Problem

Microsoft Office documents, sheets, powerpoints etc. that were created by someone else will not open. Some variation of an error message will typically be shown.

Example of an error message on an Illustrative Math document:

Cause

Recent Microsoft update is attempting to strengthen user security by only allowing documents to open from a “trusted location”. 

Solution

• Open the Office program that is causing issues. We will be using Word for this guide.

            ***Note: This will need to be done on each MS Office product individually. (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.)

• Select the “File” tab at the top of any word document.

• Then select the “Options” tab.

• Next select “Trust Center” tab at the bottom of the window that opens after selecting “options”.

• Select the "Trust Center Settings..." button.

• Then select the “Trusted Locations” tab.

• At the bottom of this menu, there should be an “Add Location” button.

• Select “Browse” from this sub-menu and it will open up file explorer.

• From here you will navigate to “This PC”, then the “Users” folder, and then you will double-click on your username and click the button at the bottom to select this folder.

• Before you finish adding this location, you will click the checkbox to make subfolders trusted locations also. See picture below.

Note: You can manually type in the folder address like in the above picture, but replace "stevensb" with your own username (the one you use to unlock your laptop).

• One final thing to check- make sure that the file you are trying to open is NOT located in a zipped or compressed folder. Extract all files before attempting to open them.

If you have tried the above steps and are still experiencing issues, please submit a ticket for assistance.